Multiple plug and socket coupling



Jan. 16, 1962 F. G. BAC

MULTIPLE PLUG AND SOCKET COUPLING Filed May 3, 1960 INI/ENTOR FERNAND GEORGES BAC United States Patent O 3,017,603 MULTIPLE PLUG AND SOCKET COUPLING Fernand Georges Bac, 18 Rue du Mont-Cenis, Paris, France Filed May 3, 1960, Ser. No. 26,584 6 Claims. (Cl. 339-186) The present invention relates to improvements in multi-pin plug-and-socket couplings.

Multi-pin plug-and-socket couplings yare often subjected to severe conditions of working, especially as concerns their fluid-tightness under the most varied conditions or their behaviour at different pressures or at increasing temperatures. In spite of their technical qualities, the plug-and-socket units known at the present time still have a serious drawback: often grouped together in fairly large numbers -at points which are more or less easy of access, and each supplying diiferent circuits which have different effects, involuntary errors can be made when coupling together plugs rand sockets corresponding to the various types of circuits, which may, for example on board an aircraft, have dangerous consequences. These drawbacks are particularly difficult to avoid in the case of plugs and sockets of very small dimensions, the use of which is becoming general. The solutions proposed up to the present time must be rejected due to their complexity or to their ineffectiveness, or if these solutions are effective it is only at the cost of an inacceptable increase in the size of the plug-andsocket unit.

The present applicant has sought to remedy the drawbacks referred to above Without increasing the small size required of the plugs and sockets, without heavily increasing their oost price while ensuring absolute safety during their coupling in position, even in total darkness, and while preventing all possibility of sabotage without previous complete dismantling of the plug-and-socket unit.

To this end, a multi-pin plug-and-socket coupling comprising a male member xed on a female member by :a bayonet and stud coupling or other equivalent device, comprises in accordance with the present invention, in each of the male and female members, on the one hand a key or other device movable about the axis of the plug-and-socket and rigidly fixed to the member in question in any one position, predetermined in advance, of a number of possible positions, and on the other hand a cu-t made parallel to the axis and Iadapted to co-operate with the movable member of the other part, the coupling of the male and female members being only possible when the angular distance between the cut and the moving part is the same for both members, and when the position given to 4the bayonet slots and s-tuds of the coupling device is xed with respect to the cut in one member and the key of the other member.

The movable elements are preferably constituted by a tongue parallel to the axis of the plug-and-socket unit, and forming a key, one part of this tongue co-operating with the cut in the corresponding male or female member and -another part of the said tongue being engagedin order to tix the position of the moving part which it constitutes-in a number of notches, housings or slots formed in the body of the male or female member. The tongue which forms the key may be anchored to the body of the male or female member by means of an elastic blade which forms an open ring, and which is inserted in position in a circular groove formed in the body of the corresponding male or female member.

A preferred form of embodiment has been shown in the accompanying drawings, this embodiment being described in more detail below. In these drawings:

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FIG. l shows a plug-and-socket unit in accordance with the invention, the parts of which are shown separated, in cross-section with parts broken `away and in an external view.

FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-section of the assembled plug-and-socket unit.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the non-assembled plug-andsocket unit.

FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 are cross-sections taken respectively along the lines IV-IV, V-V, and VI-VI of FIG. 2.

In the `form in which it is shown in the drawings, the plug-and-socket unit comprises:

A male member 1 surrounded by an assembly sleeve 2 with a holding spring 3 and coupling studs of any known type; V

A female member 4 with a mounting collar 5 and bayonet coupling slots 6, also of known type;

And an insulating connection plug 7 carrying the heads 8 of the pins, of known type.

In accordance with the present invention, a circular groove 9 is formed in the inner wall of the female member 4, and slots 10, for example six in number, are cut in the wall of the said member. In the groove 9 is housed a thin arc-shaped blade 11, the extremity of which carries a tongue 12 parallel to the axis of the plug-and-socket unit, the said tongue being provided with a thick head 13 which can engage in one of the slot-s 10 so as to fix the position of the blade 11. The inner or outer wall of the female member 4 is slotted longitudinally at 14 between the level of the collar 5 and the free extremity of the member.

In the same way, the male member 1 is provided on its outer face with a longitudinal groove 1S; it is surrounded by a thinarc-shaped blade 16, the extremity of which carries a tongue 17 parallel to the axis of the plug-and-socket unit, the said tongue having a thick head 18 which is placed in one of the six slots 19 formed at the base of the member 1, the blade 16 being held in contact with the outer surface of the body of the member 1 by the assembly sleeve 2.

The elastic blade 16 is advantageously provided with a stud 20 which permits of a ratchet action of the bayonet coupling by Ifalling at the end of the travel into holes formed for that purpose in the wall of the locking sleeve.

The purpose of this part is as follows: depending on the nature of the electric couplings to be made, the blade 1-1 is placed so as to house the head 13 of the tongue 12 in the selected slot 10; the connection plug 7 is inserted in the female member 4, in which i-t is elastically held. The mounting collar 5 is fixed on the plug board. The tongue 17 is placed in position in the member 1, placing its head y18 in the appropriate slot 19. The angles of arc between 12--14 and between 17-15 are equal.

When it is desired to couple the member 1 to the member 4 by the bayonet joint, it is only possible to do so when the tongues 12 and 17 are respectively positioned opposite the longitudinal slots 15 and 14; the male member 1 can then be pushed in the female member 4, the pins effecting the circuits required, land the bayonet coupling can be effected by rotating the locking sleeve, thereby engaging one or more studs provided on the inner wall of the sleeve in the helical grooves 6 formed on the outer wall of the female member.

It can thus be clearly seen that the very simple improvements made to multi-pin plug-and-socket couplings according to the present invention provide complete security in the establishment of the desired circuits and of no other circuits than those desired.

What I claim is:

1. A multi-pin plug-and-socket electric coupling in which the engagement of the pins and sockets can be effected in one position only, selected from a plurality of predetermined relative positions, so as -to provide a number of combinations of possible connections, said coupling comprising: a male coupling member and a female coupling member, a movable key device adapted to be removably housed in any one of a plurality of circumferential positions on the inner wall of said female member, said key device cooperating with a corresponding groove lformed in the outer wall of said male member, a second movable key device adapted to be removably housed in any one of a plurality of circumferential positions on the outer wall of said male member, said second key device cooperating with a corresponding groove formed in the inner wall of said female member, the selected positions of said key devices being such that the angle of arc between the key and the groove of one member is equal to that between the key and groove of the other member, whereby the only possible position of engagement for each selected coupling combination is located by the correspondence of the key device of said male or female lmember with the corresponding groove of the other member.

2. A plug-andsocket electric coupling as claimed in claim l, in which engagement of said male and female members is effected by a simple push action when the pre-selected position has been found by relative rotation of one of said members with respect to the other.

3. A plug-and-socket electric coupling as claimed in claim 2, and further comprising a locking sleeve rotatably mounted on said male member and at least one stud provided in the inner Wall of the outer extremity of said locking sleeve, said studs engaging in helicoidal grooves formed on the outer wall of said female member, thereby rigidly securing said male and `female members together in the engaged position.

4. An electric plugfand-socket coupling as claimed in claim l, in which each said movable key device comprises an elastic arc-shaped blade curved to the radius of said couplings, and a tongue fixed on said arc-shaped blade parallel to the axis of the coupling, said tongue having one thicker extremity adapted to engage in the corresponding longitudinal groove formed in the cooperating male or female member.

5. An electric plug-and-socket coupling as claimed in claim l, in which the contact pins of said coupling are mounted in an insulating block detachably fixed in said female member, and the corresponding sockets of said coupling are mounted in an insulating block detachably fixed in said male member.

6. An electric plug-and-socket coupling as claimed in claim l, and further comprising a mounting collar rigidly fixed on the outer wall of said female member.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

